Judge Holden
Judge Holden is the main antagonist of Cormac McCarthy's 1985 Western Blood Meridian. He is inspired by the real-life scalp hunter of the same name. Biography Though the novel is intentionally vague about the origins of the Judge, we do get some knowledge of him. The book takes place around the Mexican-Texas border starting in 1854. The Judge is first seen entering a tent and falsely accusing a priest of being illiterate, a pedophile, and probably a zoophile as well, leading to the people in attendance of his service to kill him on the spot. The Judge later met a group of Indian Hunters who were out of gunpowder and at risk of being overtaken by a group of Apaches. They encountered Holden sitting on an enormous boulder in the middle of the desert, as if he had been waiting for them, even though there was no way he could have known that they were coming. The Judge climbed a mountain with them, and collected coal while he was there (amongst many other scientific pursuits). The judge later lead them to a small area of volcanic activity, while Apaches were following them closely. When they arrived he collected sulfur, then mixed that with the coal, urine, and other minerals, producing functional gunpowder. The Judge than created a false surrender against the Apaches. However, when the natives approached the mercenaries, Holden and his fellow men brutally killed them all. The Judge was involved in several more conflicts with natives, including raid that resulted in the conscious and purposeful murder of multiple babies. The Judge formed a partnership with the captain of the mercenaries, a man named Glanton. Eventually the Natives caught up with the group and killed Glanton as well as most of the mercenaries, but Holden managed to survive. The nameless main character, known as The Kid, encounters Holden decades later, although the Judge has apparently not aged at all. The Judge is last seen frenetically dancing in the nude, claiming that he will never die. Personality Judge Holden is extremely ruthless but also very intelligent, often teaching and philosophizing to his fellow mercenaries. He tends to avoid personal confrontation, but is perfectly willing to murder people in the most brutal ways imaginable if they are his enemies. The Judge is perennially calm, and expresses few emotions over the course of the novel. He was an immensely cruel being-demonstrating his love for cruelty such as buying two puppies just so he can throw them off a bridge to their deaths. The novel also heavily implies that the Judge is a child murderer, and perhaps a pedophile-luring children into his clutches with sweets. A child goes missing in nearly every town that he visits, and he is, on several occasions, seen with a naked child in his room. Appearance The Judge is a man of strange appearance. He has an ernomous frame and is close to 7 feet in height. His skin is extremely pale, to the point of being flourescent and purely white in coloration. He also has no bodily hair. Physically, Holden is very strong, being capable of lifting a Howitzer with ease, and using a large rock to kill a mule in a single blow. In contrast to his apparent age and strong features, the Judge has a strangely childlike element to his appearance, having hands and feet that are small in proportion to the rest of his body, and possessing a childish aspect to his face. The Judge is often partially or entirely nude, but (when clothed) will tend to wear clothing typical of his era; such as longcoats, linen shirts, boots, and wide-brimmed hats. Often, the Judge can be seen smoking a cigarillo. In Samuel Chamberlain's autobiography My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue, Holden's appearance is described identically to that of his fictional counterpart: ''"He stood six foot six in his moccasins, had a large, fleshy frame, a dull, tallow-colored face destitute of hair and all expression, always cool and collected. ''" Powers And Abilities The Judge is described as being a massive, physically imposing man, some seven feet tall, and completely free of body hair. His skin is also extremely pale, to the point where it is described as being phosphorescent in the desert sunlight. The Judge is extraordinarily strong and durable. He is able to hold a heavy howitzer under one arm, and walk across vast stretches of desert without ill effect. It is these traits that suggest the judge is not in fact human, but a demon of some sorts. Gallery Images Holden3.jpg Holden2.jpg|Holden's evil grin. Judge_Holden.jpg Holden4.jpg Holden5.jpg Holden6.jpg Holden7.jpg Holden8.jpg Judge Holden 3.jpg|Holden at the fireside. Holden_hat.jpg Holden.jpg Kid_Holden_Toadvine.jpg|The Kid, Holden, and Toadvine Holden_Scalp.jpg|Holden scalping a man. 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